For pilots of commercial and other aircraft, knowledge of weather data, in particular knowledge regarding hazardous weather along their planned route, is critical for safe operation of an aircraft. Presently, weather radar equipped onboard the aircraft is utilized to gather weather data for the flight path ahead. Further, in recent years, a connected radar concept has been proposed as the evolution of current weather radar system. Under the connected radar concept, weather information from various aircraft may be uploaded and downloaded and thus widely shared, increasing the amount and diversity of weather data available to the pilot. Such a system also benefits from the fact that weather information sensed by aircraft weather radar is typically more accurate than ground sensed weather data. One problem with the connected radar concept, however, is the potential additional heavy burden placed on air-ground communication datalinks. Commercial aircraft operations, in particular, are experiencing evolving and increasing utilization of air-ground communication datalinks for air traffic control, airline operations specific applications, and in-flight data services for passengers. Introduction of air-ground uploads and downloads of detailed weather information will only add to the burden of the wireless networks utilized by aircraft.
For the reasons stated above and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the specification, there is a need in the art for alternate systems and methods collecting weather information for selected airspace regions.